Freak
by CircleLogicWorksBecause
Summary: Zoe was always the quiet one, the normal one with nothing to offer. When she's cornered in her favorite tree, nature swoops in to save her. The two attackers turn out to be none other than two Avengers who never had any intention to hurt her, but every intention to teach about what she's becoming.
1. Scared

**This is my first Avengers story, and I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers, they would be Marvel's, however sad that makes me. But Zoe's all mine! MINE!**

Chapter 1: Scared

I walked out of school, doing my best to not meet anyone's eye. Everyone around me fit into a group that they were stuck in at that moment. The smarter-than-me nerds, the cooler-than-me Goths, the scary cheerleaders and jocks, and the prettier-than-me everyone else.

I just did my best not to interrupt their loud conversations. My backpack was weighing me down with the multiple books my classes required. It hurt my shoulders, but I didn't complain, I never had. My hands busied themselves in my hair, twirling the dingy black strands around their digits. The ground beneath my feet was covered with red and orange leaves that crunched with every footfall.

My house was just under 4 miles away from school. But my parents were always so busy I couldn't get a ride from them, and I didn't have anyone to carpool with. So I trudged on while the sky was cloudy and gray.

High-pitched giggles penetrated my ears at a regular basis until I had gone several blocks away. From there I went to my favorite place. Not home. No one would miss me there, no one would even be home for another few hours. Instead I went to a place no one else seemed to know about. My place to read and sit in silence.

Everyone in the books was so much more interesting than me. There were angels, demons, ghost, and girls that all of a sudden became popular. TV was good too, with the good movies and those Avengers that had been on lately, but I couldn't bring TV to my place.

This place was a creek that ended in a heavily wooded area. There was a tree that was perfect for climbing and reading a good, exciting book. As quickly as I could, I climbed as high as I could and pulled out my book.

I was fully absorbed into a scene where a girl and her brother found a place to call their own. It was heartwarming and sweet, and the two of them were so happy to have somewhere to call home. Even though it was a book, I was committed to those kids and was physically smiling. Because I was so absorbed, it took me awhile to hear the crunching of leaves getting closer.

I was always really quiet and reserved, so I was observant and picked up on small noises. But I heard the footfalls much later than I expected I would have. When I heard them closer than I wanted to, my head shot up and my eyes wretched away from the text. Two people were at the base of my tree. Fear coursed through me. Was I on their property? If I left could I go without talking to them?

The woman wore a long sleeved black shirt and dark skinny jeans, and the man wore a black T-shirt and baggy jeans. He had something odd around his shoulder, and she had a weird belt. Both of them just stared up at me.

For the longest time, we just stared at each other. I was extremely uncomfortable and marked my page, put the book in my heavy green backpack, slung it over my shoulder, and shimmied down the large tree. With my head down and my eyes focused on the leaves, I mumbled out an apology as I passed them. A hand landed on my free shoulder and I froze. I was going to get yelled at, I knew it.

Very slowly, I turned to look at them. Something about them was very familiar. I could feel my eyes twitching as I looked at them. My instincts were telling me to leave before I got in trouble for trespassing on previously unowned land.

Then it clicked. They were all over television. Hawkeye stood 3 feet away from me. Black Widow had a hand on my shoulder. My eyes widened and I felt fear go back through me all over again. They were _carrying_ weapons. Hawkeye had a bow and a sheath of arrows, Black Widow had her other hand on what I assumed was a loaded gun.

I started to shake uncontrollably. "Please don't hurt me," I whimpered in the most pathetic voice I'd ever heard. It made sense that my voice shook so much, it was mine after all.

Black Widow and Hawkeye shared a quick look. Hawkeye stepped forward. "You are Zoe?" All I did was weakly nod.

"Well Zoe," Black Widow said in what seemed like too casual of a tone, "we have somewhere to take you. You're not like everyone else."

That was absolutely ridiculous. I was nothing. Absolutely nothing. If by 'not like everyone else', she meant 'total loser no one wants to hang out with', she was right. So I wasn't going anywhere. Instead I was going home and not coming back until spring.

But I couldn't say any of that out loud. All I could do was shake my head and start walking away. Black Widows hand went back to my shoulder.

"Zoe. You have to come with us. Now." As she said that, trying to make me do something against my will, it's like I snapped.

I've always been the one that didn't stand out. Blending into the background. But I've had my complete unoriginality boring into my brain, as well as knowing that my parents valued work and vacations over feeding and bonding with me. And that hurt. Bad.

So when this stranger wanted me to do something else I wouldn't enjoy, it was the last straw.

"NO!" I screamed louder than I ever had, even louder than when I broke my arm in 3rd grade. All I wanted was to get away, to get out of the Avengers' reach. The ground beneath me shook and quivered and rose. Something spun and rose out of the ground, taking me with it. A tube fit under my feet and I clutched at a random tree trunk. The curious feeling that I was rising went through me. Looking back at the hostile heroes, I saw that they were at least 50 feet below me.

All of a sudden, I was back in a tree where there had not previously been a tree. The only branch was the one that I sat on, and there was no way down.

What happened? Did one of them do something? Was it _me_? If it was me, what did that make me? Not to mention, _how did I get down_?

I'm sure my eyes were as wide as humanly possible. Tears spilled over onto my cheeks as I realized I was A) Stuck in a tree and B) A freak.

"Clint?" Black Widow asked. Hawkeye took out his bow. Terrified of being skewered with an arrow I flattened myself against the tree and watched emerald green leaves start to form a cocoon around me. Once I emotionally freaked out about it, they stopped. Hawkeye fired an arrow that stuck firmly in the tree bark. He never missed. He aimed there for a reason. Maybe it would explode.

Instead, it turned out to be like a grappling hook and he was rapidly coming closer. My breathing quickened. I was going to die without ever learning why I was such a freak. He was going to strangle me.

But he didn't. Instead, he wrapped his thick biceps around me and slowly descended, dragging me with him. I gave up. There was no way to get out, to get away from these people who saved the world by murdering an alien army. Their presence alone made me quiver in fear. My death seemed imminent, especially now that I was strange and freakish.

That isn't what happened. As I cried on the ground, Black Widow wrapped an arm around me and awkwardly patted my back. Hawkeye slung my floral backpack over his free shoulder and started walking. Black Widow followed him and I had no choice but to go with them, scared for my life and sanity.

**Thanks for reading, the next chapter should be up in a few days. **

**-CLWB**


	2. Informed

Chapter 2- Informed

I was very quickly sitting on a squishy black bench. It was comfortable, but I couldn't relax in it. Instead tears ran freely down my reddened cheeks. My mental state was not healthy; it was filled with turmoil and pain.

Not only was I being taken to my death, but I was also insane. I somehow thought I made a tree sprout and rapidly grow from the ground. That was stupid, just like I had always been.

The helicopter was claustrophobic for me, someone that always needed open spaces to feel comfortable. A weird throbbing passed through my skull every now and then that made me want to hurl. Black Widow and Hawkeye were in the front, piloting and copiloting. They seemed to have forgotten me and just talked amongst themselves. At least they left me my backpack so I could read my book.

My fear was overtaken by the images of two kids happily skipping, giddy with joy. It almost made me smile.

I don't know how long I read in the cold, cramped helicopter. Long enough for my head to spazz out several times. The entire time I yearned for a meadow or a forest to lay down in. It must have been a few hours at least. When I felt us dropping, the fear shot back into me with so much force I started hyperventilating. To my embarrassment, I started crying again. Questions buzzed at the edges of my lips, but I didn't have the courage to ask them.

Hawkeye sauntered over to a hole on whatever rook we landed on. Black Widow helped me out, her hands strong and capable. I mentally compared my own self to her, the way I helpless clutched to my backpack like it was the last thing I had. Maybe it was. With Black Widow's hand on my back, I went over to the hole as well. She lowered me down the short ladder and then it was stairs and Hawkeye.

Everything looked expensive and tasteful. How I noticed that while panicking is beyond me. Hawkeye's blue eyes seemed to bore holes into me as he led me somewhere. To my death, I assumed. I didn't know what I did. Maybe it was some sort of sacrifice.

My arms were crossed tightly over my torso, my hands clutching at the knit blue cardigan. All of my muscles were tensed. I was ready, they insisted. My muscles were very wrong, however. I wasn't ready to do anything except go home. This place was foreign to me and held no traces of anything like home. Home was always just a little bit too warm, with old fashioned wallpaper and slightly ruined couches. Framed pictures of lemurs and monkeys always lined the hallways of home. It was almost cold in this place, the walls were painted, and though I hadn't seen furniture yet, I figured it would be immaculate. I was positive I wouldn't see any lemurs.

Would I ever see my parents again? Probably not until we met again in whatever afterlife awaited us. With that ever-so-happy thought, we got to a floor of some kind. The walls were glass and provided a spectacular view of a city. New York City. I was very far away from home.

I was right about the furniture. It was even polished. Black Widow met us on the floor.

"Sit anywhere you want. We'll see what happens from here," Black Widow said softly before stepping into an elevator with Hawkeye. I was suddenly alone. There was no background noise whatsoever. Only my ears ringing provided noise.

So I went for my default. Reading. Once again, I immersed myself to the point where I had any possibility of outside noise blocked. And once again, someone snuck up on me. Just when I reached a good part too.

Once you saw this man once, even on TV, you didn't forget him. He didn't let you forget him. Suddenly, I had a good idea of where I was and who's helicopter I rode in.

Tony Stark sat on the couch across from me and loudly cleared his throat. My head rocketed back into an upright position and my eyes widened when I saw the Man of Iron without his suit lounging no more than 10 feet away from me. He looked a bit smug, as if he were satisfied that he surprised me.

"You're Tony Stark," I squeaked pathetically. He smirked at me superiorly.

"That is correct. Smartest man in the city, at your service," Stark sounded as smug and superior as he looked. His eyes were looking somewhere I wasn't entirely comfortable with. My arms crossed over my chest, but he didn't look away. "How old are you?"

"17," I mumbled shyly. He sighed and pursed his lips.

"Too bad."

The next moment passed in silence, but Tony Stark was too full of himself to let me panic in peace. "I assume you like StarkTower?"

Knowing he adored the tower with his name emblazoned on it, I said in a very feeble voice, "Sure, but it doesn't feel like home."

He rolled his eyes. "My home, not yours. No one ever said it would be an exact replica of whatever hole you grew up in that stopped SHIELD from finding you for so long."

"SHEILD? Why am I here? I was just trying to read and two superheroes randomly start dragging me away, and now I'm here. And nobody told me anything!" I started softly but ended up screaming. Mr. Stark raised his eyebrows and looked at me, the same superior look in his eyes.

Frustration coursed through me after a few hours of not knowing. A soft ding interrupted my silent anger. The elevator door slid open and several people stepped out. It was a good thing the elevator was so big.

Black Widow and Hawkeye were back with their ever present stoic expressions. But they brought friends. There was a clean shaven blond man who wore a blue polo and jeans, a less than clean shaven blond man whose hair reached his back and he wore very odd clothes, and a darker skinned man who looked much more observant than the rest of them. Behind all of them was a woman with a red ponytail and a business like expression until she saw Mr. Stark. Then she lit up.

Tony Stark scooted over, making enough space for the woman to sit half on his lap. She curled up with him, a smile bright on her face. I'm sure I looked disgusted and confused. One of my hands went for my hair, reassuringly twirling and untwirling it. The other hand lightly stroked the smooth cover of my book, tracing the golden lettering.

"Hello, Zoe," The woman said with a pleasant smile.

"Hello," I whispered back. Her smile softened even more. It felt almost welcoming, almost motherly. It was a very welcome feeling.

It was interrupted by the clean shaven blond man stepping into the light. His identity hit me. Steve Rodgers, Captain America, the soldier out of time. I knew his face, everyone did. Girls at school swooned over this man. Now he was walking towards me, a hand outstretched.

"I am Steve Rodgers," He said, a slight smile turning up his lips. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Very hesitantly, I lifted my hand to meet his. He had a very strong handshake. That combined with the fact he was probably a foot taller than me when I was standing up and his biceps flexed when he shook my hand made him terribly intimidating.

"Thank you," I mumbled. I couldn't think of anything else to say, anything else to do but sit there and look at him like a cowardly dog. My face screamed 'don't hurt me'. It was a heroic look.

The darker skinned man also stepped up. "Dr. Banner," He introduced himself. I nodded slightly to acknowledge him.

The bearded blond one also introduced himself. "I am Thor, son of Odin."

Thor? The Norse God? That was…ridiculous. I'd heard something about him in the Avengers, but dismissed it as a rumor. Then again, it had been his brother Loki that destroyed half of New York City.

They all just looked at me. "I'm Zoe…Dryad. Can someone please tell me why I'm here?" I asked so quietly I was surprised they heard me. I cursed myself for not being the witty one, or the loud one, or the one that told good jokes.

Dr. Banner looked over at Hawkeye and Black Widow. "You didn't tell her?" He asked incredulously. When they shook their heads, he sighed and took a deep breath. "Zoe, you have a certain…arrangement of your brain cells that isn't quite regular, and it affects the way your neurotransmitters fire and signal each other, but also your physical self."

I was very lost. Nothing he said made sense other than that my brain was weird. Tony Stark saw my confusion and jumped in. "You're a mutant."

Shocked, my mouth fell open. A mutant? I really was a freak? Something unnatural and wrong? Dr. Banner shook his head. "No, you're not a mutant. You have a slight mutation and it has a big impact. It was catalogued when you were young, but something caused you to blip on SHEILDs radar. So Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton went to retrieve you so that they could talk to you."

"Why, though?" I asked frantically, tears starting to well up in my eyes.

"You know what happened." Black Widow said, seriousness radiating from her. "When we tried to bring you back, and you didn't want to go. You saw what your resistance did."

"That was me? I was hoping…I was hoping…"I trailed off, not sure what I'd been hoping.

"That was you," Black Widow said, a hint of sadness spoiling her serious façade. Why was she pretending? It was so obvious that she was miserable, or at the very least, upset. No one else seemed to care.

"If you were to exercise the part of your mind that allowed you to spontaneously grow something from the ground, you could control it and do it at will. It wouldn't be something triggered by strong emotion or resistance." Dr. Banner told me. I didn't like that idea, one bit.

"No," I said quietly. "I don't want to do it again. I want to go back home and never to that again."

"That's not an option," Black Widow said softly. "You've done it once. It's there forever now. The helicopter had a few screen measuring your brain activity with a few scans, and the information was sent to Dr. Banner. Something changed in your brain chemistry."

So that was it. I was some freak of nature mixed with a tree hugger. At school, I would be mocked forever. Suddenly at the front of everyone's mind, they would taunt me constantly. Maybe it was better that I was gone.

"Now what?" I asked, scared of the answer.

"Now, you stay here until we hear from SHIELD " Black Widow informed me, the misery still pulling at her features. Hawkeye look both saddened and positively lovestruck. Again, no one seemed to care.

I wanted to scream about my frustration at how she had nothing else to tell me, but I couldn't. I could only sit and wait until they told me what to do next. The woman sitting half on Mr. Stark stood up and took a step in my direction. "Come with me, Ms. Dryad. We have a room set up for you."

They did, surprisingly enough. It was larger than my living room at home. The floor was lush carpeting and the walls were a beautiful shade of green. The bed was white with a gauzy canopy and the closet had clothes in it very close to my size. There was a window with a little shelf. On the shelf, a few pots of baby flowers sat.

I gently touched one of the little green stems, and felt a little jolt. It didn't spontaneously turn into Jack's beanstalk, which I took as a very good sign. Tired and exhausted, I fell into the bed and almost immediately fell asleep.


	3. Grin

**I would like to thank MikiMouze16 for reviewing both chapters. Anyone how favorited or added Freak to your alerts, I thank you as well, but I kinda need you to review this chapter. There are some important questions at the end, and I need them answered. **

Chapter 3- Grin

I woke up, later than usual, to the sound of my door creaking open. My eyes flew open and my head lifted off the pillow. No one was coming in.

While I waited, I stood up and walked over to the little plants by my windowsill. I couldn't be sure, but it seemed like they had grown overnight. Voices started outside. I threw on a robe over 'my' pajamas.

As I stared intently at the small green plants, I tried to figure out what they would grow into. Flowers, I decided. One felt red, and the other felt yellow. Chrysanthemums? I shook my head to rid myself of confusion. While I did that, I heard footsteps.

Quickly I turned. Thor was standing in my doorway, looking tenderly at something just outside. He mumbled something in his deep voice, and a high soprano trilled back.

A little bit louder, Thor said, "Come, little one. She has woken."

Soft footsteps slowly started. I caught a flash of brunette before something threw itself onto Thor's back. Thor only chuckled and walked forward. The same soprano voice whispered something.

"Let us see," Thor said at a normal volume now. When nothing happened, he turned his head to the side. "Well?"

The thing on his back fell off and hit the floor with a thud. It scampered forward and sat at my feet. The thing turned out to be a girl. She couldn't have been older than 5 years old. Her hair was dark brown curls that cascaded over her elbows. A black and white checkered dress, red mary janes, and an odd glowing indigo pendant on a silver chain made up her outfit. I was a bit put off by her eyes, though. They were very large, framed with dark eyelashes, and the irises were impossibly gray.

She looked up at me. A huge smile slowly transformed her face. Thor walked further into my room, his amusement evident. "This child is Alice Jubilee."

The girls face scrunched up. "Nuh-uh! Is not!"

Thor grinned. "However, she prefers to be referred to as Cheshire, because she has a tendency to go against all she is told that she is. This girl has abilities not of any world I have yet seen. She is under my care while I remain on Midguard. They meant for her to be the Man of Iron's, but she did not take a liking to the metal man."

The perplexing child, Cheshire, had gotten up to look at my flowers. Her gray eyes were fixated on the stems. Intelligence and curiosity burned behind her gaze. I resisted the urge to yell at her, to get her away from them. Because that urge scared me. Who didn't want a cute kid around?

She lifted her eyes to meet my gaze. "I am Chess!" She announced happily. She held up a hand, fingers spread apart. "I am 5 years old!"

With that, she ran back to Thor. She and the god looked at each other for a moment. Love and adoration radiated from them. Then Thor placed her on his back. Carefully, she moved up onto his shoulders. Cheshire looked down at me with a sweet, childish smile.

"Would you like to accompany us to breakfast?" Thor asked me politely.

I considered. I could either stay in my room and starve or eat in a room full of people I didn't know. It was like school all over again. The inconvenience of hunger won out. I nodded and Thor turned and started leading me to the kitchen. Cheshire raised a fist like she was going to erupt into a battle cry.

The kitchen was very nice. A large, dark, circular table rested on beige tile. 10 chairs surrounded it, and 5 of them were occupied. Black Widow, Iron Man, Captain America, the woman who kept ogling Iron Man, and the man who introduced himself as Dr. Banner all sat around the table. The actual kitchen was large as well. Sleek black technology lined the wall.

Of all people, Hawkeye stood at the griddle, his sleeves pulled up. A spatula in hand. A pan of bacon sizzled to one side of him. Next to that pan was a heaping pile of golden hash browns. Pancakes sighed on the griddle as he watched them like a hawk. The simile made me grin and left out a quiet chuckle.

The chuckle I let out made all of them whip their heads in my direction. They looked surprised that I could show emotion. Quickly, I made my face blank again. But their eyes remained on me.

"Pancakes, anyone?" Hawkeye called out from the kitchen. Cheshire shouted gleefully and ran over to him.

"Me, Clint! Me, Clint! Me, Clint! Me!" She grabbed his pant leg and he smiled down at her. He took a plate and put on a pancake and a bit of hash browns before gently handing it to the little girl. She smiled at him and with unnecessary amounts of cautiousness, went back to the table. Cheshire settled in a chair and then looked at me.

"Come on Zoe! Come sit by me!" I didn't even know that she knew my name. With no better plan, I hesitantly sat in the chair she indicated. Thor sat on her other side. The amount of food on his plate made me gag. No one could eat that much. No one.

Everyone else got their food while I just awkwardly sat next to Cheshire. She didn't really understand the point of breakfast it seemed. The point was to eat, not to chatter.

"The pancakes are good. Uncle Clint should make pancakes every morning. Are you gonna get pancakes? You should probably get some pancakes. They're good. Hey, Tony. Tony. Tony. Know what we should do today? We should play Hide and Seek! I found a good hiding spot yesterday. So I don't wanna seek. Nope nope nope. Tasha! Tasha! Are you gonna show me more cool stuff today? Please?! Yay! Maybe Bruce could seek. Or Steve. And Zoe! Zoe could seek!"

After Cheshire had finished ranting she looked at me, to see what I thought of her idea. I was at what was left of the food, getting myself a bit of hash browns and scrambled eggs. When she asked, I froze. Then I went back to my seat and shrugged. No words came to me.

Tony smiled at me. "Hide and Seek is an entire day long escapade in StarkTower. Everyone slinks around like scary cats." He wiggled his fingers. "There are two seekers and a ton of other house rules applying only to the Avengers. Trust me, you'll love it. Hide and Seek tomorrow. The seekers will be-" He left the end open for someone else to supply the answer.

"Zoe!" cried Cheshire.

Dr. Banner looked pensive. "We can't have Clint or Natasha seek, because they know where the other would hide. Pepper has meetings. Tony cheats. Thor and Alice, sorry, Cheshire, know where each other are at all times. That leaves me or Steve."

He and Steve exchanged looks. Steve smiled. "I found a pretty good spot too, Bruce."

Dr. Banner looked over at me. "That leave me."

Tony grinned. "Brucie Boy and Zoe-kins. Now that that's settled, everyone has a day to plan and prepare."

Prepare? It was freaking _Hide and Seek_. It's not a tactical game. It would make me shudder to see them play paintball. The rest of the day, I hardly saw any of the Avengers except for Bruce, who slowly filled me in on all the rules.

Tomorrow would be…interesting.

**Here are the questions!**

**Cheshire. Like or dislike? I need to know. It's important.**

**Hide and Seek. Lots of coverage of short overview. Also important.**

**Any other things that you think should happen with Zoe, Ches, and the crew? I know where this is going, but I don't know how to get there.**

**I won't be near a computer for 5 days, so you have plenty of time to get back to me. **


End file.
